Maintaining a Godly Perspective When We Disagree
This post on maintaining a godly perspective is a follow up post based on the discussion found in my previous article entitled “Sound Advice for Bible Study.” In that post I shared some of John Walton’s advice (from his Genesis Commentary in the NIV Application series), regarding a sound approach to Bible study. As pointed out in that post, Walton breaks his advice down into three different categories: 1) methodological commitments; 2) personal commitments; and 3) values commitments. Having looked at Walton’s methodological commitments in the previous post, I would now like to examine what he calls, “personal commitments,” of which there are three:
- We must be willing to preserve a godly perspective on the issue and accord Christian respect to those we disagree with, refusing to belittle, degrade, accuse, or insult them. Ad hominem arguments and other varieties of “negative campaigning” should be set aside.
- We must not allow our differences of opinion to overshadow and disrupt the effectiveness of ministry and our Christian witness.
- We must decry the arrogance that accompanies a feeling of self-righteousness and portrays others as somehow less godly because of the position they hold. (Walton, J. H. (2001). Genesis (p. 189). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.)
Reflections on Walton’s “Personal Commitments” When We Disagree
All three of these commitments are important if we desire to maintain a Christ-like interaction with others. Let’s look at them in order.
Regarding #1, it’s very normal to feel personally attacked (and sometimes the attack is personal!), when a dearly held interpretation or view of ours is challenged by someone else. As Walton shares, however, “We must be willing to preserve a godly perspective….” This includes refusing to engage in personal attacks, even if we perceive the other person has personally attacked us. We should do our best to remain focused on the issue and seek to present biblical (as well as archaeological, cultural, etc.) evidence for our belief and interpretation. When a discussion is downgraded to an argument that involves character assassination, no one wins.
Principle #2 addresses the pragmatic outcome of disagreements that become the pretext for a battleground. Ministry is seriously disrupted and affected. If we respond in an ungodly way it will also certainly affect our Christian witness. This is certainly part of the enemy’s plan. If he can cause Christians to focus on their differences to the point where they fight and divide over them and present a bad image to unbelievers, he has won a major victory. (These observations are presented with the caveat that we are not talking about the foundational truths of Christianity which, if changed, would destroy its distinctive message).
Principle #3 addresses pride. Here is the root problem of all divisiveness over “non-essential” issues in biblical interpretation. A steady, and frequent, dose of humility is always the best remedy when discussing different understandings of Scripture. It is pride and self-righteousness that leads to the personal attacks noted in Principle #1. Pride and self-righteousness also damages our Christian witness and always disrupts effectiveness in ministry. Thus Principle #2 also falls under the umbrella of this third principle.
In the third, and final part, of this series, we will look at what Walton calls, “values commitments.”